NYT Strands Tips and Answers for Sunday, July 19 (Game #868)

Home screen of NYT Strands on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

Want a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears every day at midnight for your time zone – which means some people are still playing “today’s game” while others are playing “yesterday’s.” If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands Tips and Answers for Saturday, July 18 (Game #867).

Strands is the latest pun from The New York Times after Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s a lot of fun. It can be difficult, though, so keep reading my Strands tips.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections Today and Quordle Today pages for tips and answers on these games, as well as Marc’s Wordle Today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: The information on NYT Strands today is below, so don’t continue reading if you don’t want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #868) – clue #1 – theme of the day

What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?

• The theme of today’s NYT Strands is… Great Discussions

NYT Strands today (game #868) – clue #2 – clue words

Play one of these words to unlock the game’s hint system.

NAVIGATE
NAIL
HAIL
THEME
MOVE
COST

NYT Strands today (game #868) – clue #3 – spangram letters

How many letters are there in today’s spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #868) – clue #4 – spangram position

What are the two sides of the picture that today’s spangram touches?

• First side: left, 8th row

• Last side: right, 8th row

That’s right, the answers are below, so DON’T SCROLL FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #868) – the answers

NYT Strands answers for game 868 on blue background — (Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today’s Strands, game #868, are…

GIANT
MAMMOTH
COLOSSUS
MONSTER
LEVIATHAN
SPANGRAM: SUPERSIZEIT

My rating: Easy
My rating: Perfect

The letter Z helped me get the spangram – eventually, because I first got “size”, then “supersize” before finally SUPERSIZEIT.

Although I immediately understood the theme and had an idea of the words we were looking for, I really struggled to put them together.

Although rarely used, LEVIATHAN is an incredible word (it appears in the Bible to describe a fire-breathing sea serpent).

I thought it should really be the name of a horror or at least a wrestler when a Google search told me both already existed; the 1989 horror film had less cultural impact than Dave Batista, who used the nickname Leviathan before becoming The Animal. Every day is a school day with Strands.

Yesterday’s NYT Strands Answers (Saturday July 18, Match #867)

SOFT
OATY
NUT
CRISP
DIRTY
HEALTHY
SPANGRAM: BOWL OF GRANOLA

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the not-so-new pun from The New York Times, after Wordle and Connections. It’s now a full member of the year-old NYT games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I have a complete guide on how to play NYT Strands, with tips for solving it, so check it out if you’re struggling to beat it every day.

Johnny is a freelance pop culture journalist who has been writing about the internet, music, football and famous people since the iPhone was a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Previously known as Pop Detective, his journalistic career began by making up stories about Madonna’s addiction to sausage rolls (not true, by the way). A man of little talent, his career is rich and varied and includes interviews with Elton John and Blur; and the downside of interviewing Right Said Fred, appearing in a Channel 5 documentary on Peter Kay and fact-checking a German cook’s instruction manual. Somehow, still having the means to live in north London, he is happiest riding his bike and shouting at pigeons.